Teddy In Charge
by rumpelsnorcack
Summary: Harry and Ginny are left in charge of 2 year old Teddy for the day. How hard could that be? Same world as 'After Everything' and now complete.
1. Chapter 1

'No

'No! Nononononononononono! NO!'

Harry grinned as his girlfriend's voice got steadily more shrill and the thud of small footsteps came his way. Sure enough Teddy Lupin toddled into view with a huge grin plastered on his face and waving one of Ginny's more treasured possessions: her pygmy puff Arnold. The puff was the last present she had been given by Fred before he died, and she was very protective of him. His grin getting even wider, Teddy quickly make a beeline for Harry his tight grip eliciting high pitched squeaks from Arnold.

'Harry! Help me out here. He's impossible!'

'I know, but he's so cute' said Harry as he smiled into the cheeky little face looking up at him. The chubby hands were wrapped around his legs, and the smirk on his face told Harry Teddy was sure Harry would back him against the woman.

Looking up and noticing Ginny's furious and distressed glare, Harry put on a stern face and said severely 'Teddy, you need to give that back right now and say sorry to aunty Ginny. _Now_, Teddy!' he added as the boy kept looking up at him with the cheeky grin plastered to his face and an attitude of 'no, I won't' in his eyes and reflected in his bright orange hair.

The eyes looking into Harry's filled with tears and the tiny lips quivered. Teddy's hair turned a dreadfully dull mousey brown and a wail escaped him. His arms detached from Harry's legs and he backed away, clearly devastated by the betrayal by his 'uncle.'

Harry looked on in horror as the cries became more and more strident.

'Ginny! What do we do? He's crying. I … _what_?'

Ginny had dissolved in giggles. Arnold had escaped, and was rolling around under a nearby chest of drawers, and Teddy's screams were becoming deafening. Harry's face reflected his discomfort with the situation. What the heck did you do with a child who was screaming and there was no parent to hand him back to? Andromeda had gone out for the day leaving just-turned-2 year old Teddy alone in their care for the first time. Both had been confident that they'd be fine. After all, they'd been around him every week since the battle of Hogwarts and looking after him had been sweet and fun. Harry patted Teddy's head awkwardly in an attempt to calm him down. This did not go over well and Teddy's cries became even more ear-splitting.

'I think you need to cuddle him, Harry. He's shocked that you raised your voice to him.'

Seeing the wisdom in this, Harry dropped to his knees in front of Teddy and held his arms out to the sobbing child. Teddy rushed into Harry's embrace and cuddled into him.

'Tuddle. Unc Harry, tuddle me' he whimpered wiping his eyes on Harry's shirt. Harry looked up at Ginny who had stopped giggling and was watching the two with a tender look on her face.

'Do you think we'll ever have kids, Harry?' she asked.

'I don't know' said Harry. 'But if we do I want to be older and more experienced, way more experienced. This is insane' he added as Teddy hared out of his arms and chased Harry's cat Pickles into the next room screaming with laughter, all tears forgotten. 'Wasn't he crying just a second ago?'

Just as bemused, Ginny watched the boy running around.

'I don't think I'll ever understand kids' she said 'but he sure is cute as a button.'

'He is' agreed Harry. He dropped a kiss on her forehead and followed Teddy to make sure he wasn't traumatising the young cat too badly.

'Hey buddy' he said when he finally caught up with Teddy, finding him poking under the dresser in his bedroom trying to get Pickles to come out. Pickles, being not unintelligent, was ignoring the entreaties. Teddy squirmed out from the dresser and looked at Harry, his lip beginning to quiver again.

'Tat not tum out!' he said in tones of utmost outrage.

'I know' said Harry. 'I think she wants a sleep. Whaddaya say we leave her alone for a bit?'

Teddy's mouth set in a mutinous pout and Harry knew it was time to bring out the big guns.

Wanna go for a fly on my broom?'

'Bwoom! Bwoom unc Harry. Bwoom! Tum on, bwoom now' Teddy chattered excitedly, pulling on Harry's hand trying to get him outside as soon as he could. Harry laughed and allowed himself to be dragged to the broom closet.

'Gin! We're going to go flying. Do you want to come?'

'No thanks Harry. You guys are too wussy for me when you have Teddy with you. I think I'll just watch' she teased him.

'Your loss' he said, poking his tongue out at her as Teddy yanked on his hand and pulled him towards the door. She grinned and took a playful swipe at him as he passed. Their eyes locked and Harry saw a momentary flicker of sadness in the brown depths of Ginny's eyes. He smiled at her gently and patted her cheek as Teddy's insistent voice drifted up to them

'Tum on! Bwoom!'

Smiling again, Ginny followed the two out and watched as they mounted the broom and Harry took Teddy safely in one arm while the other firmly gripped the broom's handle. They lifted off and Harry kept the broom hovering just a few feet above the ground and they moved slowly sometimes doing circles which made Teddy scream with laughter. Even from a distance Ginny could see Teddy's hair flicking through a series of colours as his delighted giggles drifted back to her. Sitting in the warm sunshine Ginny reflected back on the past few years and remembered when she had heard that Teddy had been born. That was before all the horrors of the battle at Hogwarts; before Teddy lost his parents and she had lost a brother and almost lost Harry. These moments of sad memory came less often but they still haunted her. Ginny knew that Harry also had his moments of morose reflection so she knew he understood her. It was funny how one small touch from him, with an unsaid 'I understand' beaming from his eyes, could draw her out of her sadness and help her feel happy again. These small moments, like the one sitting here watching Harry with Teddy, made her appreciate what she had and mourn a little the loss of what she had before.

She saw Harry look over at her and wave, and her heart lifted instantly. One thing she always had to remember and be grateful for was that no matter what, she hadn't lost Harry. She abruptly changed her mind about flying, and returned to the house to collect her broom. Laughing, she swooped rings around Harry and Teddy who twisted in his seat trying to keep her in his sights. Harry smiled at her and reflected that if he could have times like this with Ginny and his own children, there may not be that much point in waiting much longer after all. Then, as they swooped close to the ground, Teddy's twisting pulled him too far around and he slipped off the broom and landed in a heap on the ground.

'Teddy!' screamed Ginny as she pulled quickly in to land.

'What?' giggled an excited Teddy as he bounced up and raced over to her.

'Teddy!' thundered Harry, as he too landed and caught up with the boy. 'How many times do I have to tell you not to wriggle while we're flying? You could have killed yourself!'

Once again the small lips trembled and the hair changed from vivid blue to dull brown.

'Come here, buddy' Harry said, having learned from his previous outburst.

Teddy slowly came up to Harry, anxious about how to react after this second chastisement. He was used to it from Gramma Andromeda, but Harry had never behaved like this to him before.

Harry knelt down and said in a very serious tone 'Teddy, I'm sorry I shouted at you. But you scared Aunty Ginny and me when you fell off the broom. Do you understand?'

Teddy nodded solemnly, staring up into Harry's face.

'Thing is, Ted, you could have hurt yourself when you fell. It's just lucky you didn't. And Aunty Ginny and I would have been really sad if you were hurt. So I shouted at you because I was worried about you, OK?'

Once again Teddy nodded.

'Can we make a deal, buddy?'

'Yup, Unc Harry.'

'I'll take you flying again, so long as you promise you won't wriggle'

Teddy's grin flashed out again and his hair turned a vivid sunshine yellow as he nodded eagerly. Ginny smiled as she watched him dash away to the broom.

'You were wonderful Harry' she said. 'He's eating out of your hand.' She touched his tense face and he relaxed into her hand.

'It's harder than I thought, Gin. I freaked out; I couldn't help but remember all those bodies at Hogwarts …' he trailed off and she nodded sympathetically.

'I know' she said. 'I felt it too, but you handled it so well.'

She smiled mischievously.

'I think you need to go now' she nodded in the direction of the broomstick. 'Someone is waiting for you.'

Turning, Harry saw Teddy struggling to lift the broom off the ground. Laughing, he went to join the boy once again, giving him a hug as he reached him.


	2. Chapter 2

The rest of the morning passed peacefully enough

The rest of the morning passed peacefully enough. Harry and Teddy stayed out flying until Teddy got sick of it, and insisted they come inside again. Even though he'd been outside for the greater part of the morning, by 11am he was restless with the paper planes Harry made and flew for him with his wand and the 'pictures' he drew which Ginny animated with hers. Every suggestion they made was met with 'doan want to!' with an ever more set pout on the small face. His hair was a vibrant red and Harry knew enough from Andromeda to know that for Teddy red meant danger; the boy was getting angry. Suddenly, as Ginny suggested yet another game, he dropped to the floor and began kicking his heels hard on the carpet.

'Doan want to! Want go home. Want gramma!' His voice rose with each sentence til he was screaming and his small face was screwed up with anger. Harry was forcibly reminded of Lupin the one time he had seen him angered: in Harry's third year when he had discovered that Harry was using the marauders' map and hadn't told anyone about it. The small face he was looking into right now was so like his father's that day that Harry had to stifle a sob himself and back away. Ginny took over as soon as she realised what was happening.

'Teddy, darling' she said gathering him up into a hug. 'We can't take you home right now. Gramma's gone away for the day, and she can't come back until tomorrow morning.'

The wails picked up speed and ferocity as this news sank in to Teddy's mind. Seeing that he wasn't going to be reasoned out of his temper, Ginny fell back on the best Weasley remedy.

'I think it's lunchtime, boys! Who wants to help me make some home-made pizza?'

'Me!' they both shouted and even though Teddy still had tear tracks on his face and was hiccoughing back sobs he followed the adults into the kitchen and was placated with the promise of helping to mix up the pizza dough. Harry pulled out all the ingredients Ginny directed him to find and together they mixed up a large bowl of dough for their lunch. Teddy watched them closely and finally demanded 'Me! Me do!'

Unwilling to let him loose on their dough, Ginny gave him a small bowl of his own ingredients and allowed him to get his hands dirty 'mixing' up the base. Harry had already got the toppings ready and sooner than they thought possible the pizza was cooking and Teddy was still happily mushing flour and water everywhere 'making' his dough.

Standing back from Ginny and Teddy and watching them as they worked and laughed together, Harry mused once more on the scene before him. Yes, it was chaos; yes it was going to take some time to clean up; yes, parenting seemed very stressful when you were in total charge of a small person. And yet, being here and doing it with Ginny made it seem fun. An adventure. And as awful as Teddy had been at times today it had still been so rewarding seeing his face light up as he got involved in what Harry and Ginny were doing. His infectious laughter rang out over the kitchen and Harry was drawn into a huge smile himself just hearing the child giggle. He was almost 20, he thought, and while that wasn't old he felt far older than the years implied. He had been with Ginny for almost 2 years now, 3 if you counted the time they had 'broken up' and he knew without a shadow of a doubt that they belonged together. Seeing her with Teddy, feeling like a family for the first time, made Harry realise something. It was about time to formalise their relationship; he was ready to have a family of his own so long as Ginny was there to share it. His newfound knowledge warmed him and he moved over to put his arms around Ginny as they watched Teddy and his dough. She smiled and relaxed back into him and they stayed that way, at peace with themselves and the world, until the oven let them know lunch was ready.

As he finished up the last of his pizza, Teddy's eye drooped and he almost slipped off his chair. Harry grinned and caught him then turned and quietly walked upstairs with Teddy snuggled into his shoulder. Ginny tiptoed ahead of him and pushed the door to Teddy's 'visitor's room' open, revealing the small bed waiting for him. Teddy sighed as he was laid down and Ginny pulled his shoes off and pulled the covers over him. His thumb slipped into his mouth and his eyes fluttered open once then slid completely shut. The tiny mouth sucked once or twice on the thumb then Teddy slipped into a deep sleep, and his lips slipped slightly ajar. His hair slid back to its 'base' chestnut colour and stuck in damp curls to his head. Watching him Ginny slid her arm around Harry's waist and they stood there together, both marvelling at the beauty of a sleeping child. Harry tugged on her arm slightly and they both slipped quietly out of the room leaving Teddy to his afternoon nap.

As they left the room, Harry swung Ginny around so she was facing him. She snuggled in, resting her head against his chest, revelling as she always did in the steady sound of his heart proving he was alive; proving he was hers. He leaned his chin on top of her head and they stood there listening to the quiet of the house around them.

'Gin, I … well, there's something I wanted to talk to you about.'

Ginny looked up at Harry in surprise. There was a quality in his tone that made her heart beat a little faster, and the look in his eyes did nothing to settle its pace back down.

'Sure. What's up?' she said, leading him by the hand to the cosy couch in his living room.

'Seeing you with Teddy today has made some things clear to me Ginny,' he said earnestly. 'I think it's time we thought about having a family of our own.'

She sniggered at the look on his face as he realised what he'd said.

'No! Not like that.' His face was neon with the blush that had covered it. Dammit, this was not the way this was meant to go at all. 'I meant we should maybe think about taking that first step towards having a family.'

Again Ginny snorted; 'Harry, we already do that' she said cheekily, knowing what he was saying but hoping to make him say it properly.

Harry's blush deepened. 'I didn't mean that!' he stammered out. He took a closer look at her mirth-filled eyes and the tender look behind the humour and added 'and you know it, don't you?'

Ginny leaned over and kissed him gently. 'Of course I do' she said 'And you are the biggest fool I ever met. I do love you for it though.' His arms tightened around her and he pulled her in for a deeper, more passionate kiss. His hands slid into her hair and drew her face more firmly towards his, and she slid in to him; their bodies melded together, a fire igniting between them. Finally releasing her, he grinned suddenly against her lips.

'So, will you?'

'Will I what, Harry Potter?'

'Will you marry me Ginny Weasley?'

Even though she was expecting it her eyes filled with tears as she pulled back to look into his green eyes. She saw the love, the passion, the infinite sorrow, the joy all pooled within them. She saw it all and knew it was all reflected back to him in her eyes.

'Of course I will' she said and moved back towards him.

'Unc Harry. What you do to Aunny Ginny?' an enquiring voice asked a few minutes later.

'Teddy! What are you doing awake?' Harry gasped.

He hastily removed his hands from under Ginny's shirt, fingers reluctantly sliding away from the silky skin of her waist. Ginny carefully rebuttoned Harry's top button and cast him a cheeky look as he sighed and prepared to deal with Teddy's needs.

Teddy gave a huge yawn and said 'need dwink'

'OK, how about you go back to bed with Aunty Ginny and I'll get you a drink?'

'O-tay' said Teddy through another face-splitting yawn, and Ginny smiled at him, took his hand and started to lead him away to the bedroom again. Harry placed one regretful hand on her shoulder as he moved towards the kitchen and she smirked at him, agreeing that Teddy's timing was impeccable and unfortunate.

With a wry smile acknowledging his frustration Harry poured a drink of water for their unwanted chaperone and headed towards Teddy's bedroom. When he got there, however, he discovered that the water was unneeded. Ginny was just pulling the covers over Teddy's small sleeping form, and she looked up at him with a twinkle in her eyes.

'I guess we can see what it's like to be surprised' she said cheekily. 'But at least he didn't come in a few minutes later. That would have been some story to take home to Gramma'

Harry blushed at her words, but nodded. He held out his hand to her and together they slipped out of the room.

'Ginny?' asked Harry as they sat down.

'Mmmmmmm?' she said snuggling into him on the couch once again, closing her eyes in bliss as he swept her hair back towards him and dropped a kiss on her ear.

'I think we should go to the Burrow when Teddy wakes up.'

'Ok' said Ginny, 'but why?'

'I just … I want them all to be as happy as we are as soon as possible.'

Ginny twisted around and kissed Harry's cheek, tears in her eyes.

'Yes' she whispered 'after everything, they deserve to be happy too'

'Plus, that way your mum can cook us dinner' added Harry.

'You brute! For that you can floo Andromeda and let her know where we'll be.'

Harry stuck his tongue out at her but did as she suggested. Andromeda was happy enough for them to go to the Burrow, so as soon as Teddy woke up Harry and Ginny flooed to her family home.


	3. Chapter 3

Molly was sitting on the couch in the lounge knitting one of her many jumpers for that Christmas

Molly was sitting on the couch in the lounge knitting one of her many jumpers for that Christmas. By the size and shape of it Harry guessed it might be for Victoire, Bill and Fleur's daughter. The lurid pink colour was also a bit of a giveaway. The whoosh of the fire building up as they arrived startled her and she turned to see who it was.

'Oh! Ginny!' she rushed forward and hugged her daughter.

'Mum! Lay off. It's only been a week since we saw you.'

'Oh, no! Really? It feels longer.'

'Nope, just a week' said Ginny cheerfully. 'Where's Dad got to? I wanted to see the two of you together.'

'Oh, he's out in his shed tinkering with that muggle stuff. He'll be along shortly.'

'Mrs Weasley, why don't Teddy and I run out and fetch him in while you and Ginny catch up?' said Harry.

'Call me Molly, dear.'

Harry just grinned, kissed Ginny on the cheek and took Teddy's hand, leading him outside. They had this conversation every time he came to the Burrow but he still felt weird using her first name.

Teddy, who had been unnaturally quiet this whole time, suddenly began chattering to Harry.

'Granpa Arthur pwaying with fwying bike, Unc Harry?'

'I don't know Teddy, I guess we'd better hurry and find out,' said Harry, sadness twisting at his chest as he thought of the bike that had once belonged to Sirius and had been instrumental in getting him away from the Dursleys. Harry hated the moments when he was pulled back to that time. Guilt still assailed him when he thought of that night, of all they had lost because he hadn't stood firm and refused to allow others to take on his responsibilities.

He had stopped still while thinking and Teddy, bored with the wait, had pulled his hand out of Harry's and raced off. Suddenly in the distance Harry heard a splash and a shriek. He looked up and with a shout of fear that pulled Arthur out of his shed, ran towards the small pond at the back of the Burrow's garden. Arthur, who was a little closer got there first and had leapt in by the time Harry arrived. He was slopping his way to the edge with a sobbing Teddy in his arms.

'Oh God! Oh Teddy!' Harry grabbed the small boy off Arthur as they got out. Teddy's arms clamped around Harry's neck and his sobs grew louder as he burrowed his head into Harry's shoulder. His heart in his mouth over what could have happened, Harry hugged the small boy tight to him and he berated himself for losing concentration even for a second.

'Harry, come on. Let's get him inside and cleaned up' said Arthur.

He took a look at Harry's face and said

'It's not your fault, Harry.'

'I know … but, I …' Harry choked up and couldn't get any more words out.

Arthur patted him understandingly and said 'Every one of my kids fell in that pond at least once, Harry. Fred and George more often than that,' he chuckled. 'But they are all OK. And after that first time, after that first scare, you get so paranoid that it's a wonder the others are ever able to do anything without a parent breathing down their necks.'

Teddy's sobs had subsided and Harry's heart rate was returning to a more normal level. He looked over at Arthur and nodded.

'I know, I do. But Andromeda left him in my care, and I almost let him …' his voice trailed off. Arthur, realising that Harry wasn't ready to deal with this yet, slapped him on the back and indicated towards Teddy again.

'We'd better get him inside, Harry. Poor thing's shivering.'

There was the expected fluttering and distress as the three of them arrived back in the living room of the house. A bath was run, dry clothes were found (Molly crying over the memory of Ron in them when he was Teddy's age) and soon enough Teddy was being chased all over the house by George, having already forgotten the incident.

Harry wasn't so lucky. His blood ran cold every few minutes as he relived the scream and the heart-stopping moment when he heard the splash and realised he had let Teddy out of his sight. He excused himself and sat in the shade of a tree while everyone else was inside. He sank into himself and tried to take comfort from Arthur's words, but all through it he could feel the burning guilt. He let the angry tears roll down his cheeks; anger at himself pummelled his thoughts and he curled himself tighter and tighter into a ball.

A soft hand curled through his hair as the familiar scent of flowers wafted towards him.

'Harry' she whispered as she tucked herself around him, holding him close. 'Teddy's fine. And you know we won't let it happen again.' She wiped his eyes and forced him to look at her. 'It's not your fault, Harry. And I want you to stop this right now. Teddy's inside; he doesn't know what you're doing and he wants to play with you.'

She gave him a fierce look. 'And besides, we have something to tell people. You can't be all morose through that; what would they think I'd done to 'force' you into a marriage if you looked all sullen?'

Harry let out a reluctant chuckle, and soon they were gasping for breath through their laughter. Finally Ginny stopped laughing and wiped her eyes.

'I think we should go in. Ron and Hermione have come to visit too, so we'll all be cosy now. And that's heaps of people to look after Teddy. No more trips to the pond alone for that little tyke!'

Harry nodded, stood up and offered her his hand to help her up. Together they walked slowly back into the warmth and companionship of the Burrow.

As he entered the warm nest that was the Burrow's kitchen Harry was overwhelmed by a heap of bushy hair. 'Harry!'

'Geez Hermione, don't kill the guy!' said Ron, grinning at his girlfriend.

'Where's Teddy?' was Harry's immediate, panicked response to this.

Ginny rolled her eyes. 'He's out back with George and Dad' she said. 'Do you want me to get him in so you can see for yourself that he's fine?'

Harry grinned sheepishly. 'Well, if you put it that way …' he held her eyes for a moment, becoming lost in the chocolate brown depths. 'I do want to see your father and apologise.'

Understanding what he really wanted, Ginny quietly left the room to get her father to come inside while Harry was left to deal with Molly's 'Oh, for goodness sake, Harry, you don't need to apologise!'

As soon as Arthur had returned to the kitchen, Harry cleared his throat. He looked around at the people gathered before him and realised that here were nearly all the important people in his life. How better to do this than with them all there? Ginny slipped her hand into his and looked up at him happily.

'Um, well, there's something we wanted to say to you all. Teddy's escapade,' Harry grimaced as he looked at the cheerfully grinning boy 'took the shine off things a bit, but …'

'Oh Harry! Don't be such a wet blanket! They'll think you're not happy' said Ginny, poking him in the ribs. She turned to her parents and added 'We're getting married'

'Oh! That's wonderful! My baby girl's growing up!' cried Molly and she rushed forward to engulf them in a huge hug.

'Blimey Harry. That's great news, and not before time' said Ron trying to shake his hand as Harry was once again encompassed in Hermione's hair. 'But your timing's still a bit off though.'

Silence fell over the group as many of them looked confused and worried by Ron's comment.

'What do you mean?' asked Harry, his grin becoming fixed and unnatural feeling.

'Well, I wanted to be the only one with that sort of news today' said Ron, looking sheepish. Hermione beamed at him and grabbed his hand, and understanding sank into the rest of the group.

Molly looked about to burst with tears of joy as she managed to hug Hermione and Ron as well as Harry and Ginny.

'Oh, it's wonderful!' she finally gasped out. 'You'll all be part of the family truly now. How wonderful that we should be told of it on the same day!' She looked around at the cheerful group and said 'this calls for a celebration! It's party time, Weasley style!'


	4. Chapter 4

Molly refused to allow Harry, Ron, Hermione or Ginny to help prepare the dinner; they were all shushed outside to 'relax and e

Molly refused to allow Harry, Ron, Hermione or Ginny to help prepare the dinner; they were all shushed outside to 'relax and enjoy yourselves'. Instead Molly herded George and Arthur into the kitchen and set Teddy to 'helping' make decorations under Arthur's watchful eye. She added Bill, Fleur and Percy to those in the dinner service industry once they had arrived after being flooed the good news and invited round to celebrate.

Once outside the two couples looked at each other sheepishly.

'So, when did you two make up your minds?' asked Hermione. She was leaning up against Ron, and his arms were around her waist. Ginny had hold of Harry's hand as if she would never let it go.

'About 3 hours ago' giggled Ginny.

'3 hours? Man, you guys sure can't keep things to yourselves can you' sputtered Ron.

'Meaning?' Ginny turned a stern glare on Ron, who visibly cringed away from her.

'Meaning, that me and Ron kept it to ourselves for a week' said Hermione. 'Ron wanted to wait til we had a ring before he said anything, but we decided we couldn't wait any more.'

Ginny was still glaring at Ron and knowing her as well as he did, Harry decided to let them have at it. He looked around desperately for something that could reasonably take him out of range of the fireworks, and finally worked out what to do. He quirked his eyebrow at Hermione, indicated towards the garden with his head, and asked if she would help him find some flowers to put on the table. Looking from her fiancé to his sister and back again, Hermione quickly agreed.

'He never learns to bite his tongue, does he?' asked Harry a few minutes later.

'Nope. But I think he must like it; he's lived with her for how many years and still hasn't worked out what sets her temper off? I don't think so.'

Harry snorted, and silently agreed. It was obvious to him that one of the things Ron enjoyed the most about his relationship with Hermione was the constant low-level bickering they shared. He carefully changed the subject.

'How did he ask you?' he said.

'Oh, well.' Hermione blushed. 'I kind of asked him …'

'Really? I mean I can see why, but …'

'But you thought the man had to ask first did you?'

'No, not at all. It's just I expected you to be seeing to your career first. I thought he'd have to drag you away for a minute just to manage to ask.'

Hermione's brows lowered menacingly and Harry rushed on to say 'No, I didn't mean it like that. I've known since forever, I think, that you guys would get married one day.'

'You did?'

'Yeah. It just seemed like a given all through school. Especially since the Yule ball fiasco when I first started to think about, you know, girl and boy stuff. Anyway, since it seemed so obvious I guess I just expected you to do the other stuff first and then you know … just do it.'

'I just got tired of watching him bumbling around the issue and took pity on him' she smiled reminiscently. 'He seemed so relieved that I wanted to marry him, even after all we've been through.' She sighed. 'Anyway, what about you? 3 hours ago you just thought hey I think I'll ask her to marry me, did you?'

'Pretty much. It was Teddy's fault' said Harry. He explained the lead up to the decision and had her in fits of giggles as he described Teddy's interruption.

'And yeah, she said yes and we saw no reason to wait to tell anyone.'

'You're so impulsive Harry. Ginny too; I guess that's why you're so good together.'

'You think we're good together?' he asked quizzically.

'Of course. It's been obvious to me for ages that you two should pair up.'

'What? How long?'

'Oh, I think it was probably 4th year, or maybe 5th. Whenever it was that she stood up to you and made you back down anyway. The look on your face! I knew then that she could handle 'the boy who lived' the way he needed to be handled.' She grinned at him cheekily. 'The amount of conversations we had about how best to get you to see the obvious!'

'What? You talked about me? That's …' Harry blushed deeply at the thought of those cosy girly chats.

'Perfectly normal girl behaviour' said Hermione, grinning at his discomfort. 'Oh come on, cheer up. It all worked out in the end didn't it? Would you rather we hadn't talked and I hadn't given her advice and you two hadn't got together?'

Harry snorted. 'No, of course not. You really are the brightest witch, you know. She is perfect and I am so happy. It hardly seems real still, and yet I feel like I've been waiting for this moment my whole life.'

'I know' sighed Hermione. 'I feel the same way. How on earth did we ever grow up Harry?'

'Time I guess' said Harry. 'Time and luck. What do you reckon? Do we have enough flowers yet? Is it safe to go back?'

Hermione cocked her ear in the direction they had come from. 'I think so' she said. 'I can't hear any shouting, so I think we should be right.'

She tucked her hand under Harry's arm and together they wandered back to the Burrow.

Ginny, meanwhile, was not finished with her brother. The sight of Harry and Hermione slinking off to avoid the coming altercation amused her. 'Cowards' she thought with an inward chuckle. She suppressed her amusement, however, and turned her attention to Ron who took a step back at the look in her eye.

'You will not' she stated fiercely, 'say things like that to Harry.'

'I … what? But, why?'

'He, more than anyone, knows the importance of living in the moment, Ron. He died once, in case you didn't remember.'

A furtive, guilty look crossed Ron's face.

'Yeah, I guess I forgot …'

'I can't forget, Ron. I see it every day in his face, his eyes. It still haunts him, and this, this living fast, is his way of dealing with that. So don't you ever let him think that the way he chooses to live his life is abnormal. Do you hear me?' She was practically shouting at him now.

'Look, I'm sorry Ginny, OK. It was a joke; I never meant it to be taken seriously.'

Her look softened, and she gave him a quick hug.

'I know. But I can't help it; I feel like I need to protect him sometimes.'

Ron gave a shout of laughter and said 'I bet he'd love to hear you say that.'

Ginny giggled. 'I know, but he needs someone to look out for him. He hasn't got anyone else. Besides we have each other's backs.'

'Did I ever tell you I think he's one lucky guy to get you?'

'Yes, but I still like to hear it' she grinned at him.

'I always hoped, you know. Through all your other boyfriends …'

'What? All 2 of them?'

'OK, through both your other boyfriends then. Better?'

'Much.'

'I just knew that you, that he …' he stopped in frustration, not sure how to say what he meant.

'Oh, so eloquent Ron!' Ginny teased him. 'But I get the idea. It's much the same idea I had about you and Hermione as soon as I met her in Diagon Alley.' She looked at him mischievously. 'But perhaps part of that was to be sure that she was out of the way of Harry.'

'What?!'

'Ron, I was 11. I had a massive crush; of course I saw her as competition. But it didn't last long. It was obvious pretty early where her feelings lay, even if you were oblivious.'

Ron blushed, and changed the subject.

'Is that them? Looks like they picked the whole meadow while waiting for you to cool down.'

Ginny slapped him playfully as they moved to join the other two.

Suddenly a small firebolt shot out of the house and barrelled straight into Harry.

'Unc Harry! Quick! Din time!'

Laughing, Harry ruffled his hair and looked over at Ginny. She smiled and slipped her hand into his.

'Feeling better, Gin?' he asked playfully. 'Get it all out of your system?'

'For now' she agreed. 'But knowing Ron he'll need yelling at again soon'

She poked her tongue out at him, and he did the same back. Teddy looked on in confusion, then zeroed in on the important thing.

'Tum on!' he demanded. 'Food.'

They all laughed and let him lead them into the house.

The dinner Molly had engineered with the help of her willing tribe was large and magnificent. The tables had once again been magicked into the kitchen yard because there were too many people to fit into the Burrow's confined space. They were groaning under the weight of the feast containing all their favourites including Harry's treacle tart. Teddy pulled Harry towards the table and Molly beamed at them all.

'Oh, what gorgeous flowers! That's just what we needed to make the celebration complete!'

She looked around for somewhere on the table to put them and quickly realised there wasn't a free inch of space anywhere, so she quickly bound them into magical bunches and hung them so they hovered upside down over the guests wafting their scent over them all and adding to the peace and joy of the moment.

Teddy had a great time running around the table in between everyone and pointing out the decorations he had made.

'Dat one's a bwoom, Aunny Ginny' he said pointing to a misshapen blob twisting gaily in the slight breeze its glitter making it sparkle in the candle light.

'So it is!' she said smiling at him and planting a kiss on his bright blue curls.

'An dat's one's a nitch'

'Sounds like you like quidditch little buddy' said George.

'Oh, don't get us started on quidditch' laughed Ginny, and she recounted the morning's hijinks with great glee. Even Harry was able to step back from himself enough to smile ruefully at the memory. Once again, surrounded by all the people who loved him, Harry realised that no matter what had happened in the past, this was the only place he wanted to be and everything that he had been through had combined to make this moment all the more precious. The missing faces only brought the ones that were here into greater vibrancy. Nothing would ever heal the hole left by his parents, Sirius, Remus, Tonks, Fred … but their deaths hadn't been meaningless. Each one had died to ensure the right to live in this peace. He knew this, but it was now in this one moment that it really came home to him.

As the dusk settled in around them, as the summer night drifted into purple hazes, the small group enjoyed the peaceful surroundings and laughter rang out while the food was shared among them. Teddy skipping around the table and Victoire crawling between her parents' feet bubbled with the promise of the future. Molly, whose fond visions of Harry and Hermione becoming family had been fulfilled, was looking thoughtfully between Teddy and Victoire as he occasionally stopped and looked at her, offering her some small tempting morsel from his plate and making her laugh with his antics. 'Maybe one day' she thought with a satisfied smile 'maybe all my favourite people will really be part of the family.'


End file.
